


December 7: view profile

by dizzy



Series: farewell and gtfo 2016 daily fic advent [7]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Grindr AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 03:49:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8781796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: prompt: can you please write something that depicts the awkwardness of dating (preferably using dating apps or going to bars, just something realistic for a uni-aged person) and especially so when you're an awkward 6'3" noodle who has really obscure and genuinely baffling interests and a deep-seated apathy regarding human interaction and communication(note to this prompter: in order to write this one i basically just had to delete your first sentence, so i'm sorry this is probably not what you wanted but on the up side i had a blast writing it)





	

The transition from a three year relationship to being single hits Dan hard. 

It shouldn’t, he thinks; by the end, they weren’t really in love. They were friends with a fondness for each other who used to have sex. In retrospect he can’t really figure out why they even kept up the pretense so long into her first year at uni, but he’s neither sad or surprised the relationship reached its inevitable conclusion as soon as he said he’d decided on Manchester. 

They’d had sex one last time, the first time in months, and kissed goodbye and that - well. That was that. 

*

Uni’s great. 

No, that’s a lie. 

Uni’s miserable. 

Dan is miserable. 

He hates law. He hates the constant squirm of anxiety in his gut when his dorm mates want to go out on the pull. He hates that he’s in a new city with the chance to start fresh and he’s still weighed down by all the same demons. 

He could probably find another girlfriend, if he wanted. He could ease the loneliness. He could certainly get sex. There’s a pretty redhead in his Contract Law class who laughs at all his ridiculous jokes and sometimes looks like she’s going to make conversation with him, until he darts away as fast as he can. 

He doesn’t want a girlfriend, though. That’s the problem. 

Uni is supposed to be for trying new things, for experimenting and figuring yourself out. Dan’s got himself figured out, hypothetically, but the practical application is what’s missing. 

That’s why he downloads the app. 

*

It’s a proximity based gay hookup app, under a thin veneer of matching guys up with potential dates. Dan might not have used it before but he’s definitely heard of it. 

He spends an hour taking his profile photo. The one he chooses is blurry and low light, just the curve of his jaw and his bare shoulder in frame. He thinks it looks artistic. Apparently at least seventeen guys within the first twelve hours think it makes him look fuckable. 

He eases into the app like he does everything else; with careful, thorough exploration before approach. He replies to none of the messages, but looks at all of the profiles. He sees dicks and abs and twinks and bears and the occasional guy who tries to come off as disarmingly innocent looking. He recognizes one from his Legal Methods and Systems class and can’t look the guy in the eye for a week. 

He sees men offering themselves up with explicit detail of what they’d like. It makes him blush more than porn ever has, because these are real people he could really (potentially) be with.

He still doesn’t respond to any of the messages. 

*

Dan’s sitting in his favorite Starbucks, in a corner chair still angling his phone in a way no one around him could possible see when he finds the motivation to actually make a move toward… something. 

The guy’s profile picture is of his stomach, but there’s a smilie face drawn onto it. His name is APRawrs. 

His profile is more a series of really bad puns than an actual description of the kind of sex he’d like. The only line of actual intent reads: _hmu if u like tall & awkward & dont mind that i will definitely spill something on you at least once or accidentally kick u._

_(also not actually a furry unless ur into it then maybe a furry)_

APRawrs is ridiculous and charming and Dan sends him a message: **what does maybe a furry even mean**

*

APRawrs replies back almost instantly. 

_that maybe i bite and claw a little? Unless not ur thing_

**What if I don’t know if it’s my thing or not…**

_then i would say try new things. U have acute dimple btw_

**Like the angle?**

_huh_  
_oh wait_  
_acute_  
_i get it!_  
_but i mean a [pause for space] cute_

Dan sits in the Starbucks, grinning and biting his lip. 

**i’m tall and awkward too btw**

_are you me from a mirror universe?_

**Maybe…**

_Better send me a picture so i know you aren’t_

**Like a dick pic??**

_No!! A face pic_  
_Unless you want to send me a dick pic_

Dan holds the phone up and snaps a selfie, then decides it isn’t good enough and takes about two dozen more before deciding on one he’ll actually send. 

_Oh look all of you is acute xD_

**Your turn?**

There’s a long delay in messages then the picture pops up on Dan’s phone. APRawrs has shaggy black hair and big pretty eyes that he’s crossing ridiculously, tongue drawn into a shocked looking ‘o’. 

Dan’s stomach flutters intensify. 

_handsome rite??_

**Sexxxy… :)**

*

The app is for hookups. 

Dan knows that. 

Theoretically. 

He sat in Starbucks for almost two hours chatting back and forth with Phil before he tells Phil where he actually is. 

Phil says his flat is nearby and that alone is enough to make Dan queasy with nerves and excitement. 

_How long will you be there?_ Phil asks. 

Dan looks at the time. The uni work he was presumably there to do sits ignores. **A bit longer.**

_Be there in 10 !!_

It’s only then that he begins to panic that he has no idea what he’s doing, and wonder if maybe he should have just told Phil that. 

*

He spots Phil the minute Phil walks in the door. He’s wearing the same shirt as in the selfie Dan had gotten earlier. He is tall and he does look awkward, hands strangely positioned in his pockets as he looks around the coffee shop. 

But his whole face brightens when he spots Dan and as he’s walking over Dan feels like he’s staring but he just can’t help himself. This is a boy he’s been flirting with for two hours, that he can probably have sex with if he wants. This is - it. This is what he’s been wanting for ages, and it feels surreal. 

“Wow,” Phil says, sitting down. He’s grinning, wide and open and sweet. “You’re so cute.” 

Dan buries his face in his hands, laughing. “Wow.” 

“Sorry, am I making you shy?” Phil settles into his chair. “It’s just, you looked all emo myspace in your profile pic, and you weren’t smiling in the one you sent me earlier. You looked all sexy and mysterious, don’t get me wrong, but in person you’re really… you do have a dimple!” 

“I hate you.” Dan laughs, letting Phil pull at his hands until Dan takes them away from his face. “You look - good. Really good. In person.” 

“You didn’t think I looked good in my picture earlier?” Phil pouts. “I took it special for you!” 

“You were a sexy beast,” Dan deadpans. “In fact, I have to admit, I’m disappointed that isn’t your permanent expression.” 

Phil tries to replicate it, but ends up laughing too hard. They’re both laughing and then the laughter fades and Phil crosses his arms on top of the table. “So, Dan. Tell me about yourself?” 

“You want to know about me? Is that how this normally works?” Dan asks, his mouth racing ahead of his brain. “Or is that a line.”

Phil tilts his head slightly, smiling in a different way. “I don’t think I have lines. I’ve only used the app a few times,” he says. “I just moved into my own flat a few months ago, and it wasn’t around when I was in uni.” 

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Dan says, because now he’s genuinely curious. 

“No,” Phil admits. “But I’ve also never met anyone I had as much fun talking to as you.”

“Oh.” Dan is immediately pleased. “That’s - nice. I mean, I had fun talking to you too. I’ve just, I’ve never done this.” 

He hadn’t really been planning on confessing that. Blustering his way through and hoping he didn’t make an idiot of himself had seemed like the better plan, but now that Phil is right here in front of him Dan feels strangely at ease. 

“Dan.” Phil says, and it’s warm, warm, so warm. “We don’t have to do anything, you know.” 

“Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose?” Dan asks. 

“Does there have to be one purpose?” Phil counters. “If I just ran into you in this coffee shop without having seen you on that app, I’d think you were cute and probably want to ask you out. I’d rather get to know you than just have sex with you and never see you again. And that’s not happened to me before, not with situations like this.” 

“You would ask me out?” Dan is caught up by that part. He’s never been asked out by a boy. It’s strange, but a really good strange. “If you just saw me in here?” 

Phil turns sheepish. “Probably not, but only because I’d assume you wouldn’t really be interested in me.” 

“I’d be interested,” Dan says quietly. “I am.” 

He’s not sure Phil’s smile can possibly get wider. It’s so nice. “In that case, Dan, would you like to go on a proper date with me?” 

“When?” Dan asks. 

“Um.” Phil looks at his phone. “Are you going to think I’m too eager if I say tonight?” 

“I can’t,” Dan says. 

He immediately has no idea why he’s said it. 

Phil looks disappointed, then awkward. “Oh, okay.”

“I just have…” Dan looks at the pile of books next to him. “I really was here to revise. I have this big essay-”

“No, sure. I mean, that’s not even - people don’t use the app to date. I shouldn’t keep-” Phil smiles again but it looks forced. “I should get out of your way, then.” 

Dan wants to tell him no, tell him to stay, but it wouldn’t make any sense with him just having turned the date down. “Okay.” 

*

It’s two am that night when Dan picks up the app again. 

Phil doesn’t show up in his nearby matches anymore. 

It’s fine, Dan tells himself. There are other guys who do. 

Bolstered by what might have been success if he hadn’t fucked it up so badly, Dan tries messaging a few more. After the first couple both really just want to see his dick, he gives up. 

There’s no humor. There’s no conversation. It just doesn’t feel right. 

Regret settles in heavy and low. 

*

He goes to the coffee shop the next Wednesday night. 

He doesn’t even know if Phil will still be around, but he’s hoping. 

His hopes pay off. Phil shows up in his list, at least alleviating Dan’s worry that Phil will have written him off totally and blocked his profile. 

Dan goes with a simple: **Hi.**

_Dan! hey how r u? Revising?_

**Yeah. Bored in Starbucks.**

_:( sad!!_

Dan takes a break, steels himself, and sends the next message. 

**Actually kind of wonder if the date offer is still on the table.**

_Probably. I am very forgetful. I might have walked away and left it there._

**Huh?**

_On the table._

Dan laughs loud and hard enough that someone at a nearby table turns around to look at him. 

**Yeppers I definitely see it right here on the table.**

_Yay! So wait is that a yes? When?_

**I’m at the coffee shop right now.**

*

“This feels familiar,” Phil says, sliding into the seat opposite Dan. 

“In a good way?” Dan asks. 

“I think so.” Phil looks at him, right at him, and Dan’s stomach does a strange little flip. “Hey, where are your books? I thought you were revising?” 

“Oh.” Dan looks at the table - the wide open, empty table. “Yeah, that was a lie. I just wanted to try and see you again, and I didn’t actually get your number last time.” 

Phil looks flustered. It’s a cute look on him. “I thought you didn’t - I mean. I’m bad at this, you know. Just - one night stands.” 

“Is that what you wanted?” Dan frowns. Why does that hurt? “You asked me on a date, I thought-” 

“No, I want - I want a date. I’ve just, I’ve used the app a few times and every time I did I thought it might be going somewhere but then it only went - well, into the bedroom. But I already like you more than I like any of them so I just wanted to make sure-” 

“Phil.” Dan cuts off the nervous rambling with a soft smile. Phil’s nerves ease his own, somehow. “Take me on a date.” 

*

Three weeks later, Dan is sat in Starbucks doing his revising. 

Phil is across from him, laptop on making edits to a video he’s posting later in the day. It’s a Q&A with Dan and Dan can tell how nervous he is by the cute way Phil is frowning at the screen and the way he won’t even think of saying he’s done until he feels like it’s actually perfect. He’s introducing Dan to part of his world, and Dan gets what a big thing it is for Phil. 

(Even if Phil still won’t tell him what ‘maybe a furry’ mean.)

It’s probably too soon to say they’re in a relationship. It’s probably too soon to think of love and making promises, but apparently not too soon for Phil to make him breakfast and bed and sleepovers to turn open ended and Dan to shout a hello over the phone line when Phil’s mum calls. It’s probably too soon for seeing Phil to be the thing Dan looks forward to most in his life.

Phil solved a problem Dan wasn’t even really ready to admit he had. He was lonely, the kind of lonely that it didn’t just take a person to fix - it took the right person to fix it. 

Under the table Dan bumps his foot against Phil’s. Phil looks up and for a moment the lines of concentration along his forehead ease as he smiles at Dan. 

Dan realizes that it’s only been a few weeks and this isn’t the way these things are supposed to work out. That traitorous voice in the back of his mind tells him that this is too perfect and maybe the other shoe will fall soon and still - still. For the first time in a long time, he’s got something stronger than that voice to motivate him. 

*

(He deletes the app from his phone. He won’t be needing it again.)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to mermaid and hannah for looking this one over for me!


End file.
